[In the case of severe weather conditions or other emergencies, you may call the Senate Office at (814) 863-0221 to inquire if a Senate meeting has been postponed or canceled. This may be done after normal office hours by calling the same number and a voice mail announcement can be heard concerning the status of any meeting. You may also leave a message at that time.]

A. MINUTES OF THE PRECEDING MEETING -Minutes of the March 2, 1999, Meeting in The Senate Record 32:5

Resolution Supporting the Efforts of President Spanier and the University Libraries in SPARC (The Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition)

WHEREAS the Penn State faculty and students' ability to conduct their research and prepare for their classes have been adversely affected by the rapid increase in the cost of journals, and

WHEREAS the increase in the cost of these journals seems to be unrelated to the inflation of other goods and services or increases in the quality of these resources, and

WHEREAS electronic journals and other electronic scholarly communication seem to be an increasingly effective and efficient scholarly communication tool, and

WHEREAS the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and the American Association of Universities (AAU) and its partner the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) seek to promote competition in the marketplace through a variety of programs, and

WHEREAS SPARC aims to foster an expanded marketplace; reduce the price of journals, ensure fair use of educational and library uses of electronic resources, and apply new technologies to improve the process of scholarly communication and to reduce the cost of production and distribution,

BE IT RESOLVED that the University Faculty Senate of The Pennsylvania State University commends and assists the efforts of the ARL and SPARC, and encourages scholarly and professional societies to promote competition in scholarly communications.

I. ADVISORY/CONSULTATIVE REPORTS -

Faculty Affairs

Inclusion of Electronic Publications in the Promotion and Tenure Dossier

The Senate Curriculum Report, dated March 19, 1999, has been circulated throughout the University, via the web. Objections to any of the items in the report must be submitted to the University Curriculum Coordinator at the Senate Office, Birch Cottage, e-mail ID sfw2@psu.edu, on or before April 19, 1999.

The Senate Curriculum Report is available on the web. It can be accessed through the Faculty Senate home page (URL http://www.psu.edu/ufs). Since the Report is available on the web, printed copies were not distributed to the University community. An electronic mailing list was used to notify all individuals currently receiving the Report of its publication.

Please contact the Curriculum Coordinator at the e-mail ID indicated above if you would like to be added to the notification list.

THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERITY

The University Faculty Senate Calendar

1999-2000

Reports DueSenate CouncilSenate

August 10, 1999August 24, 1999September 14, 1999

September 21, 1999October 5, 1999October 26, 1999

November 2, 1999November 16, 1999December 7, 1999

December 14, 1999January 18, 2000February 1, 2000

February 4, 2000February 15, 2000February 29, 2000

March 3, 2000March 14, 2000March 28, 2000

March 31, 2000April 11, 2000April 25, 2000

COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEES AND RULES

Revision of Standing Rules, Article I, Section 11(c)

(Legislative)

[Implementation upon passage by the Senate]

INTRODUCTION

As the Committee on Committees and Rules reviewed the structure of the Senate Nominating Committee, it identified a number of issues that it determined should be addressed. These issues include: 1) adding to the duties of the Nominating Committee the nomination of members of the Committee on Committee and Rules, 2) changing the date of formation of the committee to be consistent with current practice; and, 3) adding membership on the Nominating Committee of one of the Senate Officers in order to provide some input to the nominating process from the Senate leadership.

RECOMMENDATION

The Committee on Committees and Rules recommends that the following section of the Standing Rules be replaced with the text that follows below:

Existing Standing Rules, Article I, Rules of Procedure, Section 11(c)

Four (4) weeks prior to the next-to-last regularly scheduled meeting of the Senate year, a Nominating Committee, consisting of the elected members of the Senate Council, shall be activated by the Chair of the Senate. This committee shall meet at the call of the Secretary of the Senate and shall elect its own chair. The committee shall present at least two (2) nominees for the Offices of Chair-Elect and Secretary. In addition, in the event that the Chair-Elect received a vote of no confidence or that the Secretary is serving as interim Chair-Elect, the committee shall report a slate of at least two (2) nominees for the Office of Chair. The committee shall also report a slate of at least two (2) nominees for a member of the Faculty Advisory Committee to the President (three-year term). Nomination shall reflect the variety of disciplines, functions, and geographic locations of University units. A report of all the above nominations shall be submitted to the Chair of the Senate at least fourteen (14) calendar days before the next-to-last regularly scheduled meeting of the Senate year, and the slate shall be published in the agenda for the next-to-last meeting. These nominations shall be announced to the Senate at the next-to-last meeting by the Chair of the Senate. At this time additional nominations may be made from the floor of the Senate.

Proposed Standing Rules, Article I, Rules of Procedure, Section 11(c)

The Nominating Committee of the Senate shall develop the slate of nominees for the Offices of Chair-Elect and Secretary, as well as for a member of the Faculty Advisory Committee to the President. It shall also be responsible for developing the slate of nominees for the Committee on Committees and Rules. The Nominating Committee shall consist of the elected members of Senate Council and the Immediate Past Chair of the Senate, who shall chair the committee. The Chair of the Senate shall activate the Nominating Committee at least four (4) weeks prior to the second regularly scheduled meeting of the spring semester. The committee shall meet at the call of the Secretary, who shall charge the committee. The committee shall present at least two (2) nominees for the Offices of Chair-Elect and Secretary. In addition, in the event that the Chair-Elect received a vote of no-confidence or that the Secretary is serving as interim Chair-Elect, the committee shall report a slate of at least two (2) nominees for the Office of Chair. The committee shall also report a slate of at least two (2) nominees for a member of the Faculty Advisory Committee to the President (three-year term). Nominations shall reflect the variety of disciplines, functions, and geographic locations of University units. A report of all the nominations for Senate Offices and the Faculty Advisory Committee to the President shall be submitted to the Chair of the Senate at least fourteen (14) calendar days before the next-to-last regularly scheduled meeting of the Senate year, and the slate shall be published in the agenda for the next-to-last meeting. These nominations shall be announced to the Senate at the next-to-last meeting by the Chair of the Nominating Committee. At this time additional nominations may be made from the floor of the Senate. Nominations for the Committee on Committees and Rules shall be presented to the Senate Council at their next-to-last regularly scheduled meeting of the Senate year. Senate Council shall then elect the members of the Committee on Committees and Rules in accordance with Article II, section 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

RATIONALE

These changes codify practices already carried out by the Senate Nominating Committee and add the Immediate Past Chair of the Senate to the committee as chair in order to provide leadership for the committee by a person who will not normally be a candidate for positions that the committee is seeking to fill.

As the Committee on Committees and Rules reviewed the structure of the Senate Nominating Committee, it identified a number of issues that it determined should be addressed through changes in the Standing Rules. That legislative report is presented as a companion to this report. Since the Nominating Committee, as proposed in that companion legislation, includes the Immediate Past Chair, reference to the elected members of Senate Council in their role as Nominating Committee should be to the Nominating Committee.

RECOMMENDATION

The committee recommends that the following section of the Bylaws be amended in two locations as follows:

Bylaws, Article I Officers, Section 1(d)

When a vacancy occurs in the Office of Immediate Past Chair, the elected members of the Senate Council shall elect a faculty member from among Past Chairs to complete the unexpired term. If a vacancy occurs in the Office of Chair, the Chair-Elect will move immediately into the office, complete the unexpired term, and continue through a full term as Chair. When a vacancy occurs in the Office of Chair-Elect, the elected Secretary of the University Faculty Senate shall, within no more than thirty (30) days of notification of the vacancy, convene a meeting of the elected members of the Senate CouncilNominating Committee for the purpose of presenting nominees to fill the unexpired term of the Chair- Elect. The elected members of Senate CouncilNominating Committee, acting under the procedures enumerated in the Standing Rules, Article I, Section 11(c), shall present at least two (2) nominees to fill the vacancy. These nominees shall be announced at the next meeting of the Senate. At this time, additional nominations may be made from the floor of the Senate. The Elections Commission shall then conduct a special election to fill the vacancy. The special election shall be conducted in the manner enumerated in the Standing Rules, Article I, Section 1(b). The name of the new Chair-Elect shall be announced at the next Senate meeting. The new Chair-Elect shall complete the unexpired term and succeed to the Office of Chair. If a vacancy occurs in the Office of Secretary, the elected members of the Senate Council shall elect a Senator to complete the unexpired term.

RATIONALE

These changes make it clear that the Nominating Committee, including the Immediate Past Chair, has particular responsibilities. The references to the elected members of the Senate Council that have not been changed remain unchanged because they do not refer to the role of the Nominating Committee but rather to the role of the elected members of the Senate Council in directly replacing officers.

Inclusion of Electronic Publications in the Promotion and Tenure Dossier

(Advisory/Consultative)

BACKGROUND

In response to concerns about the inclusion of electronic publications in promotion and tenure dossiers, the Senate Chair charged a subcommittee comprised of members from the Faculty Affairs Committee, the University Libraries Committee, the Research Committee, the University Promotion and Tenure Review Committee and the Administration to examine the issue and make recommendations. The committee met and recommended the inclusion of specific items to the Administrative Guidelines for HR-23. This information was sent to the Faculty Affairs Committee.

RECOMMENDATION

The Faculty Affairs Committee recommends that the following be added as item 7 to Section III, part C of the Administrative Guidelines for HR-23.

III. THE DOSSIER

A. Forms for the Dossier

. . .

B. Responsibility for Preparation of the Dossier

. . .

C. Content and Organization of Information in the Dossier

1. A standard format for presenting and organizing the information in the dossier shall be used by all academic units.

2. The dossier shall contain the following sections, organized according to the sequence provided below:

3. Items a. through I. in the list in section III.C.2. are factual and informational sections of the dossier; item j. is the confidential section of the dossier and shall not be accessible for review or inspection by the candidate.

5. Supplemental support materials (e.g., books, reprints, and syllabi) may be collected along with the dossier at the campus and departmental review levels, but these supplemental materials shall not be forwarded with the dossier unless requested by those responsible for the next level of review.

6. Outreach activities should be properly documented and considered in the tenure and promotion process: Under service when they are mostly service, under teaching when they involve teaching, and under research and scholarship when they result in publication or activity that can be valued in those terms.

7. Electronic publications--whether they be journal articles, book chapters, or conference proceedings, or fall under the rubric of any of the other categories of publication listed in the rainbow divider for Research, Creative Accomplishment, and Scholarship--should be treated the same as publications that appear in print and listed under the same bullets described by the rainbow divider.

Departments are responsible for assuring that articles published only electronically that are listed under refereed publications are indeed both appropriately refereed and archived. A policy statement from the journal indicating the refereeing policy and the procedure for archiving must accompany all listings of publications as referred when they are published only electronically.

Articles published only electronically and listed under the category of non-refereed publication must include documentation of archival numbers. The department must supply an assessment of the selection process and the dossier must include a policy statement from the journal outlining the selection and archiving process, as well as the names of the editorial board.

Articles posted electronically by the individual faculty member without a formal review are not to be listed in the dossier.

7.8. Listings of work in progress should be eliminated from all tenure reviews beyond the fourth year and all promotion reviews beyond the assistant professor level or equivalent. Work accepted, submitted, or under contract should continue to be listed in all dossiers.

8.9. Dossiers should not contain the following items unless unusual circumstances prevail and the materials are necessary for making recommendations. (This judgment shall be made by the college dean.)

a. Evaluative statements written by the candidate;

b. Statements about a candidate's personal life unless they are germane to the quality of the candidate's work;

c. A vita which restates information presented elsewhere in the dossier;

d. Samples of the candidate's publications;

e. Letters of appreciation or thanks;

f. Course outlines.

9.10. All review committees and administrators shall have the same factual record available for the review.

10.11. Tenure decisions and promotion decisions are separate actions and require different documentation of prior reviews.

The Report of the Task Force on the Future of Benefits introduced at the September 15, 1998 Faculty Senate meeting was referred to the Committee on Faculty Benefits for response and implementation recommendations. At four subsequent meetings of the Committee, the most recent being March 2, 1999, the issue of contribution levels to health care plans was discussed, with primary attention given to the Task Force Report recommendation for phase-in of an increased employee contribution to the HMO health plans. Dr. Billie Willits, Assistant Vice President for Human Resources, attended committee meetings to help the Committee understand larger health care matters related to this contribution issue.

The University offers several health care plans for employees: HMO's, POS's, PPO's, and a Plan A. Except in the case of the HMO plans, the University contributes 80% of each plan's cost and the employee contributes 20%, while for spouse and family the ratio is 70%-30%. The HMO plans differ significantly from this ratio, currently being closer to a 95% university- 5% employee contribution for both employee and spouse/family. This low cost alternative for health care now enrolls approximately sixty-seven percent of the employees, and when compared to the higher yearly costs of Plan A, has saved the University and employees substantial money since its introduction.

Trends in health care costs project sizeable increases in HMO plan costs over the next several years. It is in the interest of the University to share this cost increase with employees by moving the contribution for HMO plans towards the 80-20/70-30 ratio. This would also establish equity in employee contributions to all plans.

In response to this health care cost trend, and the Task Force Report recommendation to phase-in an 80-20/70-30 contribution ratio for HMO's, the Faculty Benefits Committee proposes the following principles to guide changes in employee contributions to health care plans.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• The aggregate contribution by the University to all health care plans should increase each year to keep up with medical cost trends. In no case should the aggregate contribution to all plans decrease from one year to the next.

• The Faculty Senate endorses equity across all health plans at a contribution level no greater than 20% for the employee and 30% for spouse and family (the 80-20/70-30 ratio). To achieve this equity, increases in the employee contributions to the HMO plans should be phased in over no fewer than the next seven years. The increased employee contributions resulting from this phase-in, combined with increased University contributions based on analysis of medical cost trend indicators each year, will meet the increasing costs of health care in an appropriately shared fashion.

• If medical cost trends decline, or if the phased-in increases in employee contributions to HMO plans achieve the 80-20/70-30 goal in less than seven years, the surplus dollars generated should not be used to reduce the University's aggregate contribution to health care plan costs. Instead, the excess monies should be used to provide additional health care coverage benefits, or should be used to reduce the percentage of employee contributions to all health care plans.

The Faculty Senate advises the President to adopt these principles and to provide the Senate with the information, preferably on an annual basis, required in future years to monitor their application in the determination of employee and university contributions to health care plans.

This report is given following a request by the Senate Chair, in response to the report by the General Education Implementation Committee "Flexibility and Creative Approaches to Curricular Approval, Course Delivery, and Course Substitution (Recommendation #5)," Senate Agenda, March 2, 1999, Appendix "G." The presentation by the chair of the Committee on Curricular Affairs will explain what significant changes in the curricular process have been made in the past eighteen months, how the process is carried out presently, giving specific examples, and what further short-term and long-term changes are planned.

One of the traditional goals of the Pennsylvania State University has been to make graduate education accessible to the widest possible range of suitably prepared and motivated students, while maintaining the academic quality that gives advanced degrees their value. With rapid changes in instructional technologies, a considerable array of new and innovative approaches to graduate education has become feasible.

The Outreach Activities Committee has the responsibility of monitoring policies and procedures for assuring the quality of instruction delivered to off-campus locations, including courses and programs delivered through Penn State’s World Campus. (In this context, "off-campus" refers to instruction delivered by Penn State to students who generally receive this service at other than a Penn State campus.)

The meaning of "residency," and its applicability to graduate degree programs delivered off-campus, was reconsidered by the Graduate Council. The important components and objectives of residency were identified by Council after careful deliberation and it developed policies intended to preserve these components and objectives. On April 16, 1997, the Graduate Council approved implementation standards entitled Residency and Related Policies for Off-Campus Graduate Programs, which is summarized in the following section. These standards provided alternative approaches to achieving the goals of residency in off-campus professional Master's Degree programs.

In line with Penn State's World Campus initiatives, off-campus graduate programs that are accessible to students across the globe, delivered from campus or remote locations, will have an enormous impact on graduate education. To this end, and to maintain Penn State's standards, the Graduate Council on December 10, 1997 approved the following Guidelines for submitting proposals for Off-campus Graduate Degree Programs.

After careful review, the Outreach Activities Committee supports these policies on residency, and Graduate Council’s Guidelines for submitting proposals for off-campus graduate programs, and wishes to promulgate them through this Report.

ELEMENTS OF RESIDENCY

Off-campus professional degree programs must incorporate as many of the essential elements of residency as possible, including:

interaction between faculty and students above and beyond direct instruction

interaction between peers (i.e., among students in a given program)

access to information and instructional resources (such as libraries, computer laboratories, and research facilities)

exposure to, and socialization in, the field of study

ready access to suitable academic advising and support services

POLICIES FOR OFF-CAMPUS GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMS

A department or an academic unit may offer new off-campus graduate degree programs or off-campus delivery of existing graduate degree programs to different locations and on different schedules to accommodate local demands. When proposing such programs, the information required in the guidelines should be provided to, and will be assessed by, the Committee on Programs and Courses of the Graduate Council.

Three years after program inception a report must be made to the Graduate Council's Committee on Programs and Courses which provides evidence concerning how the essential elements of residency have actually been incorporated into the program. The World Campus and the Graduate Council's Committee on Academic Programs should remain in constant contact with each other to maintain Penn State's quality standards in Graduate Education.

Though an off-campus degree program needs the approval from the Committee on Programs and Courses of the Graduate Council, the individual courses that have already been approved for on-campus delivery may be used for remote delivery via any suitable technologies, without any additional approval from the Committee on Programs and Courses of Graduate Council.

The intent of this document is to establish guidelines and procedures by which a department or other academic unit may offer new off-campus graduate degree programs or off-campus delivery of existing graduate degree programs to different locations and on different schedules

to accommodate local demands. When proposing such programs, the following information should be provided to and will be assessed by the Committee on Programs and Courses of the Graduate Council. This document should be used in concert with "Residency and Related Policies for Off-Campus Graduate Programs," available from the Graduate School office in 114 Kern Building.

I. Common Requirements for New Off-Campus Degree Programs and Off-Campus Delivery of Existing Degree Programs

A. Justification statement including:

the need for the program with market survey data if appropriate

the size of the program and its anticipated duration

evidence concerning the academic unit's ability to offer a quality program in an off-campus environment

a statement demonstrating the impact of the proposed new program or off-campus program delivery on existing programs as well as on faculty load a statement indicating fiscal responsibility for the program.

B. A statement in a format for bulletin copy which includes the following:

1) complete degree requirements

2) a list of courses

3) a statement of admissions requirements, e.g., test scores, GPA, etc. Admissions criteria for off-campus degree programs should be the same as those for traditional degree programs. In addition, a description of the course sequence and typical scheduling pattern should be provided but need not be in bulletin format. For proposals involving off-campus delivery of existing degree programs, if any revisions are being proposed due to off-campus delivery, a side by side comparison of the existing program requirements and the revised requirements must be provided along with a statement justifying all proposed revisions.

C. A statement demonstrating how the essential elements of residency (as defined in "Residency and Related Policies for Off-Campus Graduate Programs") will be achieved. Three years after program inception a report must be made to the Graduate Council's Committee on Programs and Courses which provides evidence concerning how the essential elements of residency have actually been incorporated into the program and that high quality graduate education has been delivered in the off-campus program. During this 3-year period, the Graduate School is charged with monitoring program delivery and quality.

D. Program operation and maintenance including:

identification of a program coordinator who must be a member of the graduate faculty in the academic unit offering the degree

evidence of how academic advising, counseling, and learning support will be provided to students

description of available facilities including research facilities, libraries, technological resources, etc.

and a statement regarding any technological resources which students will be expected to have (e.g., access to a computer, Internet access, VCR, etc.).

E. Written responses indicating consultation with other units affected by the proposed program.

F. Off-campus programs must incorporate a mechanism for assessing program quality through student surveys for feedback at critical milestones in the program as well as a student exit questionnaire at the time of graduation.

II. Additional Requirements for New Off-Campus Degree Programs

A. Objectives of the program including:

an explanation of how the new program meets the educational objectives and/or strengthens existing programs of the college(s) and the University

an explanation of why this program is appropriate for off-campus delivery

a description of what students may expect to accomplish through the new program

a statement of how the new offering does not unnecessarily duplicate other degree programs.

B. A list of new courses to be established as a part of the new degree program.

*These guidelines supercede and replace "Guidelines and Procedures for the Approval of Extended Degree Graduate Programs" (approved by the Graduate Council, April 1992).

THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY

The University Faculty Senate

REPORT OF NOMINATING COMMITTEE FOR 1999-2000

The Nominating Committee consisting of the elected representatives of Senate Council was convened on January 19, 1999. The following list of nominees will be transmitted to the Chair of the University Faculty Senate prior to the February 16, 1999, Senate Council meeting for subsequent distribution with the Agenda for the March 30, 1999, meeting of the University Faculty Senate. Additional nominations may be made from the floor of the Senate on March 30, 1999.

The Senate Committee on University Planning has heard separate briefings on the latest version of the Master Plan and the Arboretum Plan, which is a recently completed addition to the Master Plan. Because of the importance of these long-term plans for the faculty, the Committee on University Planning is sponsoring an oral informational report to the Senate that describes the main elements of the updated Master Plan. The report will be based on the presentation by the Administration to the Board of Trustees at its March 1999 meeting.

It is anticipated that details of the new Arboretum Plan, which should be of interest to the faculty University-wide, will be available on a web site in the near future.

The following are projected topics to be addressed at the Senate meeting.

Chair Berkowitz called the meeting to order at 1:37 PM on Tuesday, March 16, 1999, in Room 101 Kern Graduate Building. The minutes of the February 16, 1999 meeting were approved as distributed on a Tormey/Jago motion.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMARKS

Chair Berkowitz announced that the Faculty Advisory Committee met this morning, March 16, 1999, and discussed the following items: Parking at University Park; Updates on Senior Administrative Searches; State Budget Update; Fall Senate Report on the Changing Nature of Academic Health Centers; Faculty Evaluation Procedures; The Affirmative Action Office; and General Education Implementation. The next meeting of FAC is scheduled for Thursday, April 8.

Professor Berkowitz also stated that the Senate Officers' last college visit for this spring will take place on April 6 to the College of Arts & Architecture.

The Senate has received a memo from President Spanier regarding his approval, and therefore, the implementation of the Advisory/Consultative report entitled "HR-40 --Evaluation of Faculty Performance" passed at the October 27, 1998 Senate meeting.

President Spanier has asked the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs to follow up with the academic deans regarding implementation of the policy. He also asked the Assistant Vice President for Human Resources to note the revisions in HR-40.

REPORT OF THE GRADUATE COUNCIL

Philip Klein was out of the country, but his report on the Graduate Council meeting of February 17, 1999 is attached to these minutes.

AGENDA ITEMS FOR MARCH 30, 1999

Legislative Reports

Committees and Rules -- "Revision of Standing Rules, Article I, Section 11(c)." Caroline Eckhardt reported for the committee, made a few editorial changes to the report, and indicated that the purpose of this legislation is two-fold. The first is to make the Standing Rules coincide with present practice and the second is to add one member to the Nominating Committee. That new member is the Immediate Past Chair. The report also calls for the Immediate Past Chair to be the Chair of the Nominating Committee. Council thanked CC&R for bringing this report forward so quickly in response to their request and passed the report for the Senate Agenda on a Gouran/Richman motion.

Committees and Rules -- "Revision of Bylaws, Article I, Section 1(d)." Professor Eckhardt noted that the main purpose of this report was to make appropriate changes in the Bylaws from "elected members of the Senate Council," to "Nominating Committee." Without discussion, this report was passed on a Gouran/Romberger motion. Since this report is an amendment to the Bylaws, it will be presented with the March 30 Senate Agenda but not voted on until the April 27 Senate meeting.

Libraries -- "Resolution Supporting the Efforts of President Spanier and the University Libraries in SPARC (The Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition)." Felix Lukezic and Bonnie MacEwan presented this report on behalf of the committee. They noted for Council that there has been a long-standing problem with the high price of publications from private publishers and its effect on the University Libraries' purchasing power. The goal of SPARC is to promote competition in the marketplace through a variety of programs, and, thus reduce the price of journals. The Libraries Committee is offering this report as a show of its support for this effort. Council expressed some concern with the possibility of having too many resolutions. Without further discussion, a Scaroni/Romberger motion was passed.

Advisory and Consultative Reports

Faculty Affairs -- "Inclusion of Electronic Publications in the Promotion and Tenure Dossier." Dr. Lukezic also presented this report and stated that it created a new Item 7 to Section III, Part C of the Administrative Guidelines for HR-23, under "Content and Organization of Information in the Dossier." This new Item 7 will establish the criteria for the inclusion of electronic publications. Council asked that several editorial changes be made, and passed the report for the Senate Agenda on a Gouran/Romberger motion.

Faculty Benefits -- "Recommendation for Employee Contributions to Health Care Plans." Allen Phillips shared with Council that this report was the second of two reports that his committee has submitted in response to the Task Force Report on the Future of Benefits. This second report deals only with the topic of increased contributions of employees and a decreased contribution by the University for members of the health maintenance organization. It recommends that the 80:20 ratio for employees and a 70:30 ratio for dependents be phased in over a period of no fewer than seven years. In addition, the Committee has included two other recommendations. The first was that the aggregate contribution by the University to all health care plans should increase each year to keep up with medical cost trends. The second was that if medical costs decline, the surplus dollars generated should not be used to reduce the University's aggregate contribution, but rather that the excess monies should be used to provide additional health care coverage benefits.

Council suggested that a table of some sort using dollar examples be included so the Senate could have a better perspective of the result of these recommendations. It was also suggested that references to what these recommendations might mean for retirees of the institution be included. As the employee's part of the ratio goes up, it will have a greater impact for individuals on a fixed income. The report was accepted on a Gouran/Tormey motion.

Informational Reports

Committees and Rules -- "Nominating Report - 1999-2000." Dr. Berkowitz asked if there were any question regarding this report. There were none and a Richman/Scaroni motion was passed.

Curricular Affairs -- "Review of Recent Changes in, Current Practices of, and Future Plans for the Curricular Approval Process." Peter Deines indicated that this is an Oral Informational report and Council had no questions for him. A Tormey/Bagby motion was passed to include this report on the Senate Agenda.

Elections Commission -- "Roster of Senators for 1999-2000." Dr. Berkowitz noted that several colleges had not elected their Councilors to date and asked that this be addressed as soon as possible. A Richman/Jago motion was passed on behalf of this report.

Outreach Activities -- "Off-Campus Graduate Programs." Jacob De Rooy presented this report by stating that one of the responsibilities of the Outreach Activities Committee is to oversee activities involving the use of faculty expertise in addressing constituencies that do not have traditional students. There is now technology available which allows us to deliver faculty-guided programs and courses to people off campus. The World Campus is an example of one mechanism for accomplishing that. One of the concerns the Outreach Activities Committee has been aware of is the monitoring of the quality of these programs. The Graduate Council is also aware of this issue. The report was produced by the Graduate Council and addresses guidelines for quality in these programs. Council did not have any questions of Professor De Rooy but did make suggestions to make the report clearer. A Richman/Tormey motion was passed to include this report.

Senate Council -- "Report of the Nominating Committee -- 1999-2000." Dennis Gouran had no comments, and Council passed the report on a Tormey/Richman motion.

University Planning -- "The University Park Master Plan." (Oral Informational) Dennis Gouran suggested that even though Shelton Alexander was not in attendance yet, Council should accept this report in his absence. This was done on a Gouran/Tormey motion.

ACTION ITEMS

"Senate Calendar - 1999-2000." Chair Berkowitz noted that it is Council's responsibility to confirm the Senate Calendar each year for the following Senate year. This was accomplished on a Richman/Romberger motion.

Dr. Berkowitz addressed the next action item by asking Council to vote for the new members to serve on the 1999-2000 Committee on Committees and Rules. A written ballot was distributed and voting took place. Senate Parliamentarian, George Franz, reported for the Teller Committee the following results: the new CC&R members are, for two-year terms: Mark Casteel, Louis Geschwindner, Deidre Jago, Frank Kristine, and Jean Landa Pytel. Elected to a one-year term was Terry Engelder and the first alternate will be Tramble Turner.

NEW BUSINESS

There was no New Business for the Council to consider.

ADJOURNMENT

Senate Chair Berkowitz thanked the members of Council for their attention to the Agenda and adjourned the meeting at 2:32 PM.

Dr. Erickson reported that the Graduate Writing Center opened in the middle

of January and is available to assist graduate students in all disciplines to improve writing skills on whatever projects students may be currently working.

2. Dr. Erickson also reported on the resolutions passed by the Undergraduate Student Government pointing toward the improvement of English and tightening of standards to be applied to Graduate Assistants whose native language is not English.

3. Dr. Erickson announced that Dr. Robert T. McGrath from the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics has accepted the position of Associate Vice President for Research effective July 1, 1999.

4. A new proposed Master of Software Engineering degree to be offered at Penn State Great Valley was approved. It was asserted that the new degree would be more a technical degree than those that would be offered in the School of Information Sciences and Technology.

5. Dr. Gary Rogers, Chair of the Committee on Academic Standards, presented some proposed guidelines on post-baccalaureate Credit Certificate programs, principally designed to see to it that such courses at the 500 level are taught by members of the Graduate Faculty. Adequate library facilities, etc., are also important. The Council will continue the discussion at the March meeting.

6. A discussion was held concerning the circumstances under which undergraduates may take 500-level courses. There was also concern about concurrent offering of 400- and 500- level courses. In particular, the question was raised whether this practice might "dilute" 500-level courses. Both problems will be discussed further at the March meeting.

The Pennsylvania State University

The University Faculty Senate

Birch Cottage (814) 863-0221

Fax: (814) 863-6012

Date: March 19, 1999

To: Commonwealth Caucus Senators (This includes all elected Senators from
Campuses, Colleges, and Locations Other Than University Park)

From: Deidre Jago and Andrew Romberger

MONDAY, MARCH 29, 19997:00 PM

Officers' and Chairs' Meeting Board Room I, NLI

MONDAY, MARCH 29, 19998:00 PM

Commonwealth Caucus MEETING CANCELLED

TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 19997:30 AM

Intercollegiate AthleticsHUB GALLERY LOUNGE

8:00 AM

Curricular Affairs101 Kern Building

Outreach Activities502 Keller Building

Student LifePaul Robeson Cultural
Center

8:30 AM

Admissions, Records, Scheduling and
Student Aid203 Shields

Committees and Rules227 HUB

Intra-University Relations305 HUB

Research 114 Kern Building

Undergraduate Education307 HUB

University PlanningDonovan Rm., 204 HUB

9:00 AM

Faculty Affairs404 Old Main

Faculty BenefitsBirch Cottage

Libraries E510 Paterno Library

9:30 AM

Computing and Information Systems101-A Kern Building

1:30 PM

The Caucus will meet at 11:00 AM on Tuesday, March 30, 1999, in the Assembly Room of the Nittany Lion Inn. A buffetluncheon will be served at noon.

The Pennsylvania State University

The University Faculty Senate

Birch Cottage (814) 863-0221

Fax: (814) 863-6012

Date: March 19, 1999

To: Commonwealth Caucus Senators (This includes all elected Senators from

Campuses, Colleges, and Locations Other Than University Park)

From: Deidre Jago and Andrew Romberger

NO MONDAY NIGHT MEETING THIS MONTH

TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 1999 -- 11:00 AM -- ASSEMBLY ROOM, NLI

The Caucus will meet at 11:00 AM on Tuesday, March 30, 1999, in the Assembly Room of the Nittany Lion Inn. A buffetluncheon will be served at noon.